Quote of the Day: Arnold H. Glasow on Success

We often believe the safest path is to sound certain, keep your head down, keep your answers polished, never reveal a gap. But Arnold H. Glasow offers a more optimistic truth: the real burden isn’t learning, it’s pretending. “It is harder to conceal ignorance than to acquire knowledge.”

Concealing ignorance turns daily life into a low-grade performance. You talk around questions, rely on vague phrases, and hope no one asks the one follow-up that exposes you. That kind of vigilance is tiring because it’s defensive: it spends energy protecting an image instead of building ability. Worse, it shrinks your world. You avoid meetings, conversations, and projects where you might be “found out,” and in doing so you quietly trade growth for comfort.

Learning asks for something simpler: honesty and a next step. You don’t need a dramatic reinvention, just the courage to say, “I don’t know yet.” Knowledge compounds. One clarified definition, one beginner tutorial, one thoughtful question in a room of experts, and suddenly the fog lifts. What felt like a threat becomes a map. The payoff isn’t just competence; it’s calm. You can show up with curiosity instead of armor, and that mindset improves your leadership and your confidence at the same time.

That perspective is classic Arnold H. Glasow: a businessman-satirist who understood both the pressures of performance and the practical power of plainspoken truth. His wit wasn’t decoration, it was a tool for better thinking.

Today, pick one thing you’ve been “winging it” on and turn it into a 15-minute learning sprint: write the question, find one reliable source, and ask one person for clarification. May you trade the strain of pretending for the freedom of becoming.